Huge Blue Butterfly - further ID
 

This seems certain to be the Maculinea arion that was suggested to me
earlier when I said one had been sighted here. Since then, the people who
saw it have been shown photographs of it and all seem to agree this is it.
I believe it was released on Dartmoor which is about 3 miles from us so it
seems very possible it would find its way here.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

Huge Blue Butterfly - further ID
 

Sacha wrote:
This seems certain to be the Maculinea arion that was suggested to me
earlier when I said one had been sighted here. Since then, the
people who saw it have been shown photographs of it and all seem to
agree this is it. I believe it was released on Dartmoor which is
about 3 miles from us so it seems very possible it would find its way
here.

This was discussed on BBC radio 4 last week:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5385488.stm

Huge Blue Butterfly - further ID
 

On 2/10/06 11:53, in article ,
"Bioboffin" wrote:

Sacha wrote:
This seems certain to be the Maculinea arion that was suggested to me
earlier when I said one had been sighted here. Since then, the
people who saw it have been shown photographs of it and all seem to
agree this is it. I believe it was released on Dartmoor which is
about 3 miles from us so it seems very possible it would find its way
here.

This was discussed on BBC radio 4 last week:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5385488.stm

Many thanks for this info. I've written to the Project to let them know
we've sighted the butterfly.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

Huge Blue Butterfly - further ID
 

Sacha wrote:
On 2/10/06 11:53, in article
, "Bioboffin"
wrote:

Sacha wrote:
This seems certain to be the Maculinea arion that was suggested to
me earlier when I said one had been sighted here. Since then, the
people who saw it have been shown photographs of it and all seem to
agree this is it. I believe it was released on Dartmoor which is
about 3 miles from us so it seems very possible it would find its
way here.

This was discussed on BBC radio 4 last week:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5385488.stm

Many thanks for this info. I've written to the Project to let them
know we've sighted the butterfly.

You're most welcome. It's a beautiful animal. I wish I had seen it!

Huge Blue Butterfly - further ID
 

Sacha wrote:

On 2/10/06 11:53, in article ,
"Bioboffin" wrote:

Sacha wrote:
This seems certain to be the Maculinea arion that was suggested to me
earlier when I said one had been sighted here. Since then, the
people who saw it have been shown photographs of it and all seem to
agree this is it. I believe it was released on Dartmoor which is
about 3 miles from us so it seems very possible it would find its way
here.

This was discussed on BBC radio 4 last week:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5385488.stm

Many thanks for this info. I've written to the Project to let them know
we've sighted the butterfly.


Sorry to shatter your illusion Sacha but your sighting is most definately
not consistent with Maculinea arion, the Large Blue.

This is what you wrote on the 16th September.

"Fluttering around the garden and one of the green houses yesterday, at
least 5 people saw a very large sky blue butterfly. *By very large, it was
described as being about 5 or 6" across! *Even allowing for the exaggeration
of memory and reducing that to 3 or 4", it's still pretty big. *Does anyone
know what that might be or whether we have an escapee from the Buckfastleigh
butterfly farm? *And how far can butterflies roam, anyway? *Any (polite)
suggestions would be welcomed as to ID"


As I butterfly specialist I can tell you the following.

Maculinea arion is far far smaller than the butterfly you describe. It is
called the Large Blue but that is only because it is the largest of the
British blue species. It has a wingspan of at most 2 inches. It is unlikely
that you would have given a butterfly like this a second glance.

It has been put on Dartmoor but the two colonies that have been established
there are small. The large number flying in the UK this year, as mentioned
in the BBC article, is largely due to the 16 colonies in the Polden Hills
in Somerset.

M. arion does most definately not fly in September in the UK. It flies in
June and July. Butterflies can very occasionally appear outside their
flight season but this is most unlikely with M. arion. This is because it
is an incredibly specialised species whose life cycle is dependent on a
single species of Red Ant called Mysmica sabuleti. The caterpillars spend
most of their lives inside the ants nest where they eat the developing
grubs. The lifecyle is completely tied to the ants' development cycle.

The description you gave is entirely consistent with a sighting of an
escaped speciemen of a species of he genus Morpho. These are spectacular
and very commonly used in butterfly houses. There are very few, if any,
other species of butterfly in the world which would fit the description you
give.

Neil Jones
http://www.butterflyguy.com/

Huge Blue Butterfly - further ID
 

On 2/10/06 14:46, in article ,
"Bioboffin" wrote:

Sacha wrote:
On 2/10/06 11:53, in article
, "Bioboffin"
wrote:

Sacha wrote:
This seems certain to be the Maculinea arion that was suggested to
me earlier when I said one had been sighted here. Since then, the
people who saw it have been shown photographs of it and all seem to
agree this is it. I believe it was released on Dartmoor which is
about 3 miles from us so it seems very possible it would find its
way here.

This was discussed on BBC radio 4 last week:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5385488.stm

Many thanks for this info. I've written to the Project to let them
know we've sighted the butterfly.

You're most welcome. It's a beautiful animal. I wish I had seen it!


So do I. I wasn't one of the fortunate ones but I've been keeping my eyes
peeled. We've also had an elephant hawk moth and several humming bird hawk
moths here, so this must be the Year of the Lepidoptera for us.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/